With a focal length of 18-300mm wide-angle photos and telephotos can be shot

When you include the crop factor, this equals a total focal length of about 28-450mm

The aperture ranges from F3.5 to F6.3

The close-focus limit of the lens is 39cm

This lens is an absolute all-round lens as it covers every range! Of course, because of this you’ll have to keep in mind that it isn’t as intense. I consider it most appropriate for beginners but also for advanced photographers who simply don’t want to exchange lenses. With the lens you can do wide-angle landscape shots, portraits (the lens covers typical portrait focal lenghts of 50mm, 85mm, 100mm…), macro shots and photo stories. In my opinion it is the perfect lens for traveling!

Quality with an open aperture

I’m happy to say that the result has turned out even better than I’d have expected! Today I mainly shot macro with a long focal length and a wide open aperture. The sharpness is still great! Of course, you can’t compare it to diverse fixed focal lengths or zoom lenses with consistent apertures, but for the range that is covered with this lens you really can’t complain! In the mid-ranges, in particular, the sharpness turns out best!

Using this lens, there’s not the slightest problem with vignetting! Neither in the wide-angle nor in the zoom position does any annoying or significant vignetting occur.

Distortion in the wide-angle position

Unfortunately, when shooting with short focal lengths, pictures do get distorted. However, I think that this is okay considering the range that is covered by the SIGMA 18-300mm, and it’s a flaw that can be overlooked.

Focus & image stabilization

I’m convinced by the focus and by the image stabilization. The focus is fast and noiseless while with the image stabilization (which you can switch on and off) you can adjust up to 2 aperture levels.

Another advantage of this lens is its light weight of only about 600 grams. So it’s great fun walking around with it!

Macro position

It has a maximum image scale of 1:3, which isn’t a lot compared to other macro lenses. But of course it is still an all-round lens – that’s why I consider the scale sufficient and even satisfying!

Thanks to its long focal length you can also move very close to the subject and, despite an aperture of 6.3, you will still get a nice shallow depth of field.

By and large, this is a pretty good lens. It’s perfect for beginners and all those interested in photography and getting annoyed by exchanging lenses! With this lens all ranges are covered for a fair price. I’ll stick with my beloved fixed focal lengths, but because of its large range and its light weight I can very well imagine using it as a lens for traveling.